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Monthly Archives: April 2014

Well a fun week for us here on the Playground. We are gearing up for all the convention coverage next week, as well as setting up some awesome partnerships here locally that we will be announcing once it is all hammered out and ready to go! But enough of that, let’s get this show on the road!

Well I’m sure you guys have noticed the announcement of the Star Wars 7 cast. I for one am more than excited to see that most of the actors named (besides the originals) are relatively little known.

Another reason to be excited is the fact that Andy Serkis will be involved! I’m excited to see the awesome things that he will bring. What alien or character do you think that he will bring to life in the Starwars universe? We’ve heard small rumblings that the age of this cast may be perfect for the yuuzhan vong!

I would be more than happy to see that story line come to the big screen. It would be the perfect type of story and visuals that would be needed to grab a new generation of movie goers!

Just in case you have lived under a rock for the past few months, The amazing Spider Man 2 comes out tomorrow night at midnight in most places. This movie looks like it will cement Spider Man into the movie world that way he should have been a long time ago.

With this movie, they may just prove that they can go toe to toe with Marvel. The set up’s and easter eggs through out the movie are great and only leave us wanting more and more. That’s not even talking about the amazing viral campaign that has been going on for a year!

I was a little skeptical of Electro at first but after so many different scenes of his awesome look and powers, i am a solid fan! Just look at the screen shot above and tell me you would lick a hobo for a free ticket!

This week guys we have the beautiful and talented Ashayla Webster with us! She does some awesome cosplay and modeling and is ever proudly featured in the book Itty Bitty Titty Committee. See the link below for how to get your copy of the book!

Well here are the questions! Enjoy!

1. Where is your favorite place to sit and gather your thoughts?

I like to get outdoors and as close to the earth as possible when I need to gather myself. I try and find a spot with some dappled sunlight, preferably with soft grass and water nearby.

2. What’s your favorite name?

As in general? Ummm…well I suppose like most women I’ve already named my future children. Connolly, Harrison and Abigail.

3. Marvel or DC comics?

DC. Black Canary is my favorite.

4. which would you rather do? Go skydiving or deep sea diving?

Skydiving. I actually have an inner ear problem. Being high in the atmosphere is painful, but deep sea would probably see my head cave in.

5.Anything big planned for this year?

5. I’m hoping that the positive body image charity I’ve been working on will become government recognized this year.

That’s it guys. Make sure to check back all next week for announcements on the upcoming news and conventions. Look through our old post and make sure to leave us a comment or two and let us know what you think! And, as always, this is Steps!

Bought this game expecting another great installment of the Metal Gear series and played through it in under a couple of hours. After watching the several different cut scenes and wondering when there would be another playable section… There wasn’t.

In the only main mission offered, you fight through it to get the best time possible and if you actual get caught there is little to no hope of getting a decent time or score. The graphics were amazing, the AI was awesome, and the play style was what you come to expect from these games. The only thing lacking was paying half the price of a brand new game for nothing more than one mission and some side missions.

I suppose that I knew going in that it wasn’t going to bed a full game but I still hoped on more than one mission. Maybe half of a real game for half the price?

The one upside was that I cannot wait to play the next game and will have it the day it comes out. That final cut scene makes me want to know more!

So all in all… Great graphics, great story, but not worth the money. 5/10 from me…

I remember the first problem I ever had with Comic Book movie continuity. It was black Nick Fury. I raged. I vented. I couldn’t believe they would do that. And, then, I found out they were following along the ULTIMATE MARVEL universe and calmed down. You see, I had not been a fan of the whole Ultimate line. I’ve never been a big fan of rehashing the same old stories and putting groovy new spins on them (sorry about the GROOVY; I’m from the 70s). I often wondered why. Why would I get so messed up about a comic book story, right? I mean, it’s just a story…right?

But I’m not alone. If there’s one thing you can count on when a new superhero movie is announced, it is that there will be fan boy rage and scrutiny. They (and by they I me WE) will nit-pick every little detail till it bleeds. And they’re almost guaranteed to find fault in and never be happy with any of the movie franchises completely. So, why all the rage? Why the emotion. I mean, there was more rage over the new Fantastic Four reboot than the rewrite Aronofsky did on the story of Noah. Really? Once again, why? What drives us so?

What is continuity anyway?

con·ti·nu·i·ty

käntnˈ(y)o͞oətē/noun

1. the unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over a period of time.

synonyms: continuousness, uninterruptedness, flow, progression More

2.the maintenance of continuous action and self-consistent detail in the various scenes of a movie or broadcast.

“that movie had a continuity error”

Continuity is that thing that thing that connects the story from beginning to end. I like the word ‘uninterruptedness’ and ‘progression’. I’ve always said, as a writer, that there is an inert natural progression of the story in any format you step into. I’m a sequel guy. I can walk out of a movie or put down a book or comic and say, “Here’s what happens next…” Once you understand the consistency (I like that word too) of a character and the world of which they live, you will almost always KNOW what should come next. And, I believe that this sense of expectance is what drives us to the comic book stand and, now, to the theaters. We know when we walk into an Amazing Spider-Man movie, that we will be greeted at the door by awkwardly brilliant and yet tragic life of Peter Parker. We will feel even the villains very familiar; like old friends, if you will. Sure we like a few surprises; plot twists. But we came for the familiar.

Go to a Batman movie and you get brooding, Dark Knight of Gotham. A Harry Potter movie; you expect magic and wonder and heroic Harry. You go see Romeo and Juliet and you expect it to end in tragedy (Hint. Hint.)

This FAMILIARITY is the first point of continuity. But just how important is continuity in this new age of instant gratification?

I’ve already discussed about the myriad of fans the comic book and movie companies have to deal with today. From old schoolers like me who lost track of the stories back in the late 90s and REFUSED to touch a rehash like ULTIMATE ( I mean, a fan-boy has to have standards) to the new fans who know nothing but what comes out in the movies and the basic mythology they can get on Wikipedia (God save them!) and everything in between, I pity those who sit in the boardrooms and try and make these superhero characters a reality. It can’t be an easy job. But some, to me, have nailed it better than some.

I’ll start with pentacle of Comic Book movies, to me; the Marvel/Disney braintrust.

Kevin Feige and the minds over at Marvel and Disney are proving with every movie that they actually GET IT. Everybody who reads this blog knows I’m a big Marvel fan from way back, so I’m bias to a point. But the MCU has opened class on how to translate ‘silly’ comic book stories into the epics of our times. If you follow along with what the whole ‘AVENGERS INIATIVE’ did and, in turn, know anything about the early days of Marvel, you would understand that their success has ridden on the shoulders of their dedication to the original source material, ie. Marvel comics of the 60s into the 70s.

Does that mean they never veer off the path from time to time? Of course not! The fact that they left out two of the original Avengers in the opening installment, Antman and the Wasp, was a blaring hole in their march through continuity. Announcing that Ultron will be Stark’s baby and not Antman’s was a bit of a blow too. Also bringing in the Black Widow and Hawkeye so soon could have also been viewed as a misstep. The sudden introduction of the Winter Soldier into the story was also a bit rushed. But it really wasn’t. Feige has become a master at melding stories and characters both old and new and making them work in a believable way. I don’t think any of these things can be held against Marvel. What they have done has been the nature of the beast. They have to move along faster and movie production actually dictates some of these moves. Like Antman that is coming out next year will fix some of this apparent rifts in continuity.

But, as I said before, it’s almost obvious where Marvel is going. All you have to do is read the original comics from the 60s and understand what Phase 3 is all about. Now, am I talking about Thanos and what he is up to? No, not really. I’m talking mainly about the make up the Avengers and how it changed over time. Go, at least, wiki it. Educate yourselves.

Next we see Sony following in Marvel’s footsteps. And, who can blame them? Marvel is successful. And they do this by building a continuity that people can follow and that reminds them of those old friends they started reading comics for in the first place. Marvel also built their success on their ability to create successful spinoffs. They used THE AVENGERS as the main spine of their story and spurred three different stand-alone successes in Captain America, Thor and Iron Man! Now, Sony plans to mimic that. Smart. Pulling only from the Spidey Universe, they are going to franchise their own stand-alones in VENOM and THE SINISTER SIX. Watching what Sony is doing with Spider-Man leads me to believe that they are not only standing on long term plans, but may be learning to follow the old school continuity much like Marvel.

Now, Fox…oh, Fox.

I hear a collective groan from the fan-boys out there. I know. If one of the companies seems to NEVER get it, it’s Fox. From Deadpool in X-Men Origins to the Dark Phoenix debacle of Last Stand to the confusion that was brought on by First Class, the X-men franchise has more holes in its continuity than Swiss cheese. But with DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, Fox seems to be at least in position to fix all of that. Using a time travel movie about saving the continuity to actually save the continuity…genius. But, needless to say, there are many who are still a bit worried. And with good reason. Past track record shows that Fox not only doesn’t get it; most of the time, they just don’t care that they don’t get it.

Point in case, the Fantastic Four franchise.

To me, the first two movies weren’t that bad. They could always use improvement, but they hit the basic themes. Doom is the only thing I would have changed in the whole series. But, now, they seem intent on finding some cool new spin to make the FF fresh and new. And that something is the ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR. Believe it or not, I’m actually fine with this line of story building. If they don’t start adlibbing like they have in the past, they will be fine. The only problem I have is their choice in cast and not so much who they picked as much as why. The cast was chosen from the coolest of the cool in the young movie scene today. That cast, it’s so HOT right now…

But they did this without any thought to the overall story and what their decisions would mean to continuity that people know and love. Now, I will still give this movie a chance, mind you. Of course, as a comic fan-boy, I’m easy. But, with every announcement, my confidence in Fox dies a little.

Now, DC comics/Warner Brothers may be in the best position to make something happen fast. DC has made a career at crushing continuity and building another only to crush that one for something else. Just this year, DC launched the NEW 52 and basically said everything before is scrapped and the only reality rests in these 52 titles and what happens from now on! What? No, wonder DC movies are usually more Character driven than story driven. That will be to their advantage. All they have to do is bring the right characters in and make us believe they are who we think they are and the story can be anything. You won’t see epic stories like DAYS OF FUTURE PAST or THE SINISTER SIX as much in DC. Although seeing the Flash go up against his Rogue’s gallery would be awesome!

So where does that leave us? Oh, yeah, continuity equals familiarity! I liken it to a father and son (sorry, I’m a dude, a father and a son) whose main mode of comradery is their knowledge of baseball or sports knowledge. They may not get into deep talks but they can talk for hours about who’s the best quarterback or about a eras or pitching stats. It’s what they connect with. Same with friends. There’s always a reason you hang around that person in the first place. You see, I’m weird. My connection to one of my sons IS comics. I can talk Marvel story lines till I pass out. As friends, you get together and you pride yourselves on your knowledge of the Marvel Universe. Much like the days of old and sons, dads and friends who kept up with sports stats. It’s a connection. You go to the movies together. You talk about the possibilities of the movie’s outcome. And you can do that because there’s a natural progression to the story and you can depend on certain factors to be true.

I think people get so upset because that story they had a connection to has been scrapped for something new and cool. They go to the movies because they related with the character or remember reading the comics as kids or, as with TMNT, watched the Turtles cartoons religiously.

One more point in case: STAR WARS and DISNEY.

DISNEY just announced that the Expanded Universe would NOT factor into the new movies. That basically tells the fans that everything they hoped to see has been thrown into question. The familiarity has been gutted for something new and cool. It leaves a lot of fans out in the cold, rocking in a fetal position and sucking their fan-boy thumbs. Was this a great idea, not sure. Probably the only one they could make under the circumstances, but, hopefully, they will still pull a great deal from STAR WARS CANON.

This has repercussions with everything from Transformers to Turtles to JEM and Holograms. No really. That last one is someones childhood familiarity. There are more to come as long as the movie companies continue to pull out our childhood and try and make a buck off of it! Am I saying they shouldn’t? BY NO MEANS! Please make a bunch of Turtle’s movies and Power Rangers and every comic book character that ever walked the pages of comicdom. I beseech you! So, again, where does that leave us?

We learn to pick out battles. Some continuity points are not worth the fuss. Pinning Ultron on Tony Stark and not Pym from the comics? I can deal. Black Johnny Storm? Might take a while. It’s something changes the very fabric of the story. And, if it isn’t, cool your jets, fan-boys. I mean, if the old man here can deal with it, surely you can…

Welcome back to the Playground guys! After a long week we find ourselves back here and looking for more to keep our mind off the real world just a little longer. Got some awesome news for you guys this week and we will be trying a few new things! Make sure to tell us what you liked and the things you never want to see again in the comments below!

Wanted to take a quick second and say thank you to any of you reading this! We Hit 700 followers on Facebook this week and without you guys we wouldn’t be able to keep writing and entertaining like we do! Please follow us on Facebook and here to keep the fun going! Also, make sure to enter the giveaway! The details are below.

But let’s get the report on the week! Welcome to the Internet Intelligence Report!

According to multiple reports Lou Ferrigno will reprise his role as the incredible Hulk and by reprise his role we mean that we will be doing the voice for the violent green rage monster. This time Ruffalo will be ding Banner and Ferrigno will be the Hulk.

In the last avengers movie Ferrigno did the grunts and screams of the Hulk like only he could but the one line of dialog was given to Ruffalo. Seeing that Lou was probably the most loved Hulk in history, this movie not only makes sense but is awesome. Not really any big news or spoilers but incredible none the less (see what i did there?)

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly we have our first photos from the set of Jurassic World. Incase you didn’t know, this movie is taking place 22 years after the “events” of the older movies and is going to be about… wait… no one knows? Maybe the name is implying that the dino’s are taking over and trying the entire planet of the apes thing?

“You damn dirty dino!” It might work below are a couple of on set images. Enjoy and maybe this movie will be worth actually talking about some day soon

Now a couple of new things for you guys! We are having a contest on our facebook page! It is our first giveaway and we are proud to have one of the sexy Karen Sakai’s prints signed and ready to go! The winner will be announced next week and below is all you need to know to enter! Make sure to follow all 3 rules to enter and good look!

For your chance to win this signed print follow the link below and these rules:

Now what’s a playground without some drama and fun. This week we will start doing a weekly meltdown where we take a popular topic and talk it over. Let’s get started then, i found the perfect one to start with!

Valeria Lukyanova, or the real life Barbie as most people know her, posted a picture this week on Facebook that seems to have caught peoples eye. As I’m sure you realized, she is not called the real life Barbie for nothing. She wear tons of caked on make up and has had tons of surgury to make herself more “doll like”. Some people are turned on by this while it leaves others just confused. I was in the camp that just didn’t give a crap about her…. until this.

she isn’t a bad looking girl without all the caked on make up. I always figured if you took away that than the elephant man was probably undernieth. I mean who really wears that much make up for no reason? But after seeing this, I am left confused. Which do you think looks better? Let us know in the comments below!

And now let us move on to a awesome woman is in not fake, nor Barbie. She is our kinda woman and funny and nerdy to boot! Welcome Murder Nurse to the playground and keep reading to get to know her just a little better!

1. What video game world would you love to live in?

There are so many! My favourite video game in the world is No More Heroes, so I’d love to live in Santa Destroy. But I can’t deny Azeroth from World of Warcraft, Skyrim, and the Persona universes would all be just as kick ass to exist in. And I can’t deny, I’m a little tempted to say Silent Hill and Raccoon City – but only if I had a pretty good chance at surviving either of those situations, of course.

2. What’s a snack you can’t get enough of?

Green Tea Ice Cream. I could eat a pint a day if I let myself, it’s bad. That stuff is so addicting. That and Pirate’s Booty!

3. What is your favorite horror flick?

Asking the hard questions are we? Haha. There’s no way I could pick just one, that’s absolutely impossible when you’ve seen as many as I have. So I’m going to separate them into groups: Classic – “A Nightmare On Elm St”. Foreign – “Ju-On”. New – “Curse Of Chucky”. Horror Comedy – “Cabin In The Woods”. Honorable Mentions – “The Orphanage” & “Lost Boys”.

4. which would you rather… try walking over hot coals or base jumping off a skyscraper?

Hot coals, because I have a pretty high pain tolerance and I’ve never been adverse to heat or fire. I actually think it’d be pretty cool to see if I have some sideshow worthy hidden talent like that.

5. What are your plans for the rest of the 2014?

Tons of cosplay, modeling, music, writing, filming & more! 2014 is going to be a VERY busy year for me, and I have so many things for my followers to look forward to, that I can’t wait for myself! All I can say without spoiling anything further is, keep an eye on my Murder Nurse page in the coming months, where I will be regularly releasing news of my projects and the projects themselves! It’s going to be pretty sweet, I promise.

well ladies and gents, that’s all from the Murder Nurse, Make sure to check out her Facebook as well here! and enjoy the small gallery below!

That’s it guys. Until next week make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below and join us on facebook for even more weird and odd fun! Join us next week for another great time escaping to the Playground! As always, this is Steps!

Welcome to our latest addition to the playground family! A Saturday well spent is our game review section! We will take games that are new (relatively) and run through them to bring you the latest news on games that have come out recently!

The game is the latest installment in the infamous series and has no real ties back to the older games at all. You begin the game as a small town trouble maker with no real abilities at all. After a series of events, a wreck in your town leave the conduits, or bio terrorist depending on who you ask, freed and running for their lives. You character comes into contact with one of them and through some sort of hocus pocus becomes a conduit himself. Now with the ability of Smoke you will start to have fun toying with the different ways to use it. This only leads to problems for the young…hero?

This leads me to the next part of this game. The Karma system. Doing good and bad things can effect the game in different ways. Good guys get certain abilities later while the baddies do the same but in different ways. For me, after running through both ways, I feel the good was a little easier to stay alive while the evil made it easier to kill large groups. There are SO MANY ways to gain or lose karma. Everything from killing drug dealers (evil) to healing hurt civilians (good, duh) The one thing this didn’t effect… much to my surprise, was the story line. While there were tiny differences ( If you want to know what they were then play the game) but not enough to really make the game worth playing through twice… unless you are hunting trophies. Otherwise, just 100% on the path you choose. You won’t miss much.

One of my favorite things about this game was the choice in powers and the variety of abilities within said powers. The was three main powers (and fourth once you beat the game) to choose from. There’s Smoke, that yo u start with, Neon, and video. They all have their advantages but once i got neon and especially video, i never used smoke again… until they made me.The wings of video (see right) made it super easy to travel through the large map! Neon was great for long distance and was a huge help when it came to upping your karma levels!(see blow) Concrete is the last power and is fun but not easy to use. Just have fun finding all the different ways to kill the DUP’s!

Another fun and innovative add-on to the game was the graffiti art that you could do. They let you choose good or evil and you had to turn the controller sideways, shake it like a spray paint can, and then aim it while holding the trigger. It was fun and for some reason, never got old!

Over all the game was good, not great, but good. The story keep me wanting to play more…which is why I beat it so quick… it really doesn’t take long to beat but there is plenty to do after to get 100%. If it sounds like fun to you then chances are you will love it and play it till your passed out still holding the controller, for a day or two.

That’s right, True Believers! It’s Easter weekend and what better time, I thought, than sift through the many Easter Eggs Marvel has left scattered throughout their awesome set of movies! Now, I’m not going to go through every one of them. Hecks, that would take a while and I would just bore you; seeing you have already read a myriad of things about this subject. NO, I’m going to pull out the choice eggs from my basket; the ones that I think will drive next phase!

First of all, let me reiterate that Marvel/Disney sticks the closest to the comic continuity than any of the big three superhero movie companies. And, after digging through all of these, I am thoroughly convinced that Marvel is going to continue this with few variances. I have laid out what I think they are doing and where they will be going in an earlier article.

Word is that there is a scene in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron that is being filmed in London right now that takes place in the 40s. It includes Chris Evans (Captain America) and Haley Atwell (Peggy Carter) in what may be a flashback scene. What is odd about this shoot is one other ‘third wheel’ actor that seems a bit out of place. I’m talking about Vision actor, Paul Bettany. What would he be doing there? There are only two options I can think of. Time Travel; the Time Gem is involved or the Vision is involved in the flashback. In other words, Steve Rogers met him in the past or the android is fashioned after someone that Steve Rogers/Captain America knew back in the 40s.. Is that possible? Does it have comic precedence? YOU BETCHA! And the oldest nerd alive is here to give ya the lowdown!!

According to Marvel Comics Cannon, the Vision was built using an older android. One created by one Dr. Phineas T Horton in the later 1930s. This android had a unique reaction to exposure to oxygen; he exploded into flame! Yes, this android was the ORIGINAL human torch! The good doctor kept the ‘TORCH’ in a glass case until the now (get this) sentient android could gain control of its powers! It did gain control of those powers and took on the human identity of Jim Hammonds and joined Captain America, Bucky and Namor as the super Ally group, THE INVADERS.

Now, and this is why I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they dropped a major Easter Egg in Captain America: The First Avenger concerning the original Human Torch. Check out the scene below showing a display in the World’s Fair sequence of the movie which seems to be a man in a glass container wearing the Torch’s trademark red garb! It was part of a science exhibit at the fair, with a big sign hanging above that says “Dr. Phineas Horton Presents The Synthetic Man.” Beginning to get it?

Now, back to the Vision. In the comics, Henry Pym aka Ant-Man made Ultron and the fifth incarnation, ULTRON V, made the Vision using parts from the disassembled original Torch. Although they are passing the blame to Tony Stark for creating Ultron, this could definitely be the plan for AGE OF ULTRON. To have Cap remember seeing the original android on display at the World’s Fair back in the 40s and finding the resemblance with this Vision which was created by a renegade sentient AI we call ULTRON!

Remember that scene from Iron Man 2 where Happy talks about the robot in the basement? Is this the deactivated Human Torch Android waiting to be tinkered with? Most everybody else assumed he was talking about the ‘dummy’ who Tony made fun of all the time.

No, the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that this option is where they’re going! It just makes sense and proves that the MCU is sticking the closest to continuity than any of the movie companies!

Another tidbit concerning A.I. (Artificial Intellegence) was the successful experiment of Arnim Zola to transfer himself into the old computer system as revealed by Cap and Widow in the old Shield base. Does Arnim’s success and his algorithm have anything to do with the creation of the Vision and/or Ultron? I guess it’s wait and see.

VIBRANIUM

Another EASTER EGG that has popped up in more than one Marvel movie has been the fictional element/metal, Vibranium. The first mention of Vibranium was in Iron Man 2 where Tony Stark created a new element. It was unnamed in the movie, but, in the written adaptation, they called it Vibranium. Now, actually, Tony Stark rediscovered the element after decoding a hidden message containing the structure of the element left in the diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo by his father, Howard. It is possible that JARVIS was using its existing knowledge & analysis on Vibranium structure given by Tony’s father. Tony Stark synthesized Vibranium.

Strangely enough, Captain America: The First Avenger had a mention of it too. Howard Stark talked about it as if it was already a known element. Stark mentioned that Vibranium was stronger than steel and one third the weight. Unfortunately, Stark used all the Vibranium he had to make Cap’s shield that was able to withstand a hit by Thor’s mighty, mystical hammer!

It is also assumed that THE WINTER SOLDIER’S metal arm is made of Vibranium. That would explain why it does recoil off Cap’s shield in their many battles and Bucky was able to catch the shield with no problem or vibration. You see Vibranium is thus called because it absorbs vibrations and doesn’t reflect it back. This would make the lack of throw back when Cap fought Thor make sense. But where is all of this Vibranium coming from?

Now, also in Iron Man 2 was another tidbit linked to Vibranium. If you blink you’d have miss it, but there’s a map of Antarctica amongst Howard Stark’s possessions in the crate that SHIELD gives Tony. Well, back to comic book cannon. It’s also possible that Antarctica is the source of the Vibranium that is used in Captain America’s shield. According to official Marvel Comics Cannon, Vibranium was first discovered in Antarctica, but there’s somewhere else where the metal is found in abundance… Wakanda

According to the comics, the main source of Vibranium on Earth is Wakanda, home of T’challa, the Black Panther. Back to the end of Iron Man 2. As Tony is being debriefed by Nick Fury, we see a world map in the background. There are hot spots marked and the most focus seems to be in Africa. Could the ‘red incident icon’ be marking Wakanda?

In the animated Ultimate Avengers movies, the Chitarri use Vibranium in all of their personal armor and ships hulls. Apparently, they were low on a source because they attacked Wakanda to get at more. (Ultimate Avengers: the Movie and Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther) And in, Agents of Shield, they have a special interrogation room made of Vibranium (Episode: ‘The Well’) Also, in a comic book connection with the Star Spangled Avenger, the story FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS set in World War II tells the tale of how the Black Panther and Captain America along with Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos fight the Nazis to protect the Wakandan source of Vibranium. This is the first chronicled meeting of Cap and T’Challa who fight none other than Baron Von Strucker and the Red Skull!

So, Vibranium factors heavily in, not only, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but in Comic Cannon also. I would not doubt that the filming in Africa have a direct connection to Wakanda and their Vibranium mines. What would happen if an A.I. Renegade android got access to vast quanities of this powerful and strong mineral/metal? I think this is one of the moves AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is making. Vibranium would make Ultron nearly unstoppable and if he makes an army of these Vibranium covered androids as Ultron is prone to doing, then the Avengers will have their hands full!

THE TEN RINGS!

The Ten Rings debuted in the original Iron Man. They were the terrorist organization that kidnapped Tony Stark and used him to create weapons. The TEN RINGS is also a direct reference to the greatest IRON MAN villain of all time, THE MANDARIN. But, did you know that the TEN RINGS were in Iron Man 2? You wouldn’t be alone if you didn’t. In fact, Jon Favreau who plays Happy confirmed this in an interview.

‘The guy who gives [Whiplash] the Monaco ticket is from Ten Rings,’ Favreau was reported as saying. This would mean that the Mandarin’s terrorist arm was working behind the scenes to help Whiplash get his revenge on Tony Stark, which means that they’re involved throughout the Iron Man sagaa

I know what your thinking.Isn’t the ten rings actually AIM?

I think I can safely say it was the actual TEN RINGS involved throughout most of the story. They’ve been real from the very beginning. Iron Man 3 was a huge ruse to set up the most powerful, most dangerous villain Tony Stark has ever faced. This is the next phase of IRON MAN. It’s what they have been hinting at from the very first movie. And whether they planned this or did this to appease the fans, I don’t care! This fan will take it gladly, True Believer!

PROJECT PEGASUS

If you pay close attention in Iron Man 2, you would see a crate that he retrieves things from while he is ‘creating this new element’. On the box was the name PROJECT PEGASUS. Now this may be just a nod to old school Marvel comics, but the MCU doesn’t waste much on trifling cameos. Usually, their chance encounters with comic book cannon are signs of things to come.

In the comics, PROJECT PEGASUS was a government facility for researching alternative energy sources. In the end, it became, strangely enough, a prison for super powered beings. In the AVENGERS, it was the subterranean facility where the Tesseract is being studied by Erik Selvig. It collapses during Loki’s escape with the infinity gem at the beginning of the movie. Also the files brought to Tony Stark later on are all related to the destruction of this project. Will we see it come back? Will it be involved in the incarceration of super criminals?

THE CONTINUED EXISTANCE OF THE SUPER SOLDIER SERUM

What gave Bucky the power to be THE WINTER SOLDIER? What was it that they gave Blonksy the ability to transform into the Abomination? The super-Soldier Serium!?

You’re no doubt aware that it was the mysteriously named “Super-Soldier Serum” that transformed the weak, skinny Steve Rogers into Captain America in The First Avenger. But were you aware that this same formula was the one given to Tim Roth’s bad guy Blonksy in The Incredible Hulk, so that he would be able to battle the Hulk?

Seriously: Blonsky is even told that the serum was developed “during WWII,” and is granted super speed, agility and strength by way of a small dosage. Of course, he eventually succumbs to the serum’s inherent flaws when it begins to decompose his skeleton and he transforms into the Abomination.

“The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great; bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because the strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows… compassion.”

―Abraham Erskine to Steve Rogers in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

This would explain why Blonsky became the Abomination and not a super-Soldier like Steve Rogers. This brings us to a little known corner of the Marvel Universe and Iron Man 3.

Ellen Brandt, who was played in Iron Man 3 by Stephanie Szostak and created those nifty exploding plants, was a character who was in part responsible for the creation of Man-Thing. Ted Sallis, who she was involved with romantically, was a scientist who worked for S.H.I.E.L.D attempting to recreate the very Super Soldier serum that made Rogers the Star Spangled Avenger. However, A.I. M. (YES! The same A.I.M. That was in Iron Man 3) infiltrated the project and compromised Brandt and influenced her to turn on Sallis; shooting him near fatally. Sallis attempted to save himself by using the experiment Serum on himself. The result? The Man-Thing!

The Man-Thing lived his life out in the swamps of Florida as the guardian of the NEXUS OF ALL REALITIES which was there in the swamps. Dr. Strange has been involved with this Nexus many times and it would play into the story nicely considering we’re dealing with gems of time, space, reality etc.

Kevin Feige did say that there will be hints of what’s to come in Iron Man 3 that might not be recognized at first, and Doc Strange is also mentioned by Shield Agent Sitwell as targets of Hydra along with Bruce Banner in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER. So, The Super-Soldier serum, Brandt’s mutanagetic work with exploding plants/people, Dr. Strange and the Man-Thing could factor in especially if they looking to hook up Doc with the rest of the Marvel Universe in his own movie.

Erik Selvig’s chalkboard

As Selvig is holding class in the insane asylum during THOR: THE DARK WORLD, he stands in front of an innocent looking chalkboard with a lot of nonsense on it, right? Well, to the trained eye aka a Marvel True Believer, some of that nonsense makes perfect sense.

(1) 616 Universe

FIRST, right in the middle of the board is the word ‘616 Universe’. Any Marvel comics fan of any worth would know that this is Marvel’s own designation for its mainstream comics universe. This tells us that, unlike was previously thought, the MCU IS the mainstream comic universe. This explains their relative strictness of continuity.
(2) THE FAULT.

This actually has connections with a comic’s cannon Thanos story. It first appeared in the WAR OF KINGS story-line and involved (grab onto something) the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Nova Corps which just so happens to be hitting the big screen this August! It could also be teasing an INHUMANS movie which has been hinted greatly about and much anticipated. To be sure, Marvel has concentrated much of its comic energies to following the Inhumans and pushing them in many story-lines lately.

(The Fault is a tear in the universe that leads to a number of alternate realities. The tear was caused by a Terrigen bomb and was created by Black Bolt, leader of The Inhumans. The story ultimately led to the cosmic crossover The Thanos Imperative, which seems significant considering the involvement of Thanos in both the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.)

(3) The Crossroads.

The Crossroads has been explained as a nexus point between infinite alien dimensions. Back in Hulk #300, Doctor Strange (He keeps showing up doesn’t he?) banished the Hulk to the Crossroads when he became consumed by the rampaging beast. Strange was also involved in banishing the Hulk off planet in later stories. This story-line called WORLD WAR HULK was once rumored to be the basis for AVENGERS 3.

This leaves us with a lot to chew on. Will the Fault and the Crossroads become major backdrops for the overall story? With the THANOS IMPERATIVE drive the scripts from here on?

SURTUR

When the worlds converged late in Thor: The Dark World, one of the portals led to Muspelheim, the realm of fire and we get a glimpse of Surtur. Now this Fire Demon is the very entity who tries to bring about Ragonarok, the end of Asgard! According to the comics, Surtur rivals Odin. Thor can’t defeat him by himself. With Loki masquerading as Odin, will this demon possibly take the opportunity to attack Asgard?

I say, YES!

The rumors around Thor and the MCU have already started to use the word ROGANAROK in hushed whispers. The fact that the SURTUR SAGA, written and drawn by the excellent Walt Simonson, was one of the most powerful series of Thor EVER should push this idea to the forefront. The end of Asgard. Thor with nowhere left to go but Earth. I could even see Thor have to battle the Midgard Serpent to save Earth. It would be powerfully dramatic to make him have to chose between Asgard and Midgard (Earth).

(Tidbit: Maliketh, the Dark Elfs and KURSE were also story features during Simonson’s run.)

THE WINTER SOLDIER

Finally, the revelations of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER have left us with a shattered Bucky Barnes with super speed, strength and reflexes (wonder where that came from?) and out from under the control of HYDRA. So what now?

He becomes Captain America. It is as simple as that. Something tragic happens in the war with Thanos. Steve Rogers is a casualty. Bucky Barnes is primed to take his place. He will be the ICON to lead the next phase of Avengers! This will be where Marvel/Disney will be tested. If Robert Downey, Jr. leaves the suit behind and is followed by Chris Hemsworth. (Chris Evans is a lock to leave the shield after Avengers 3), then we will be looking a whole new landscape for the AVENGERS. We will be moving into the next phase of the team and whole new team. A team occupied by a strange, uncertain lot. Hawkeye, Black Widow, the Iron Patriot, the Falcon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and the Vision. Not to mention, Ms. Marvel who has been rumored for about a year or so now.

Welcome back friends and soon to be friends! We have a ton of awesome (or in some cases not so awesome) movie news and trailers this week! So let’s jump on in and see what you think!

Dig the new logo?

So this week we are just boiling over with movie news. But let’s start this off with every body’s favorite childhood ruining director… Michael Bays Tmnt 2014. I’m not the biggest fan of the first trailer, but at the same time I see some hope. It seems to be going to the grittier turtles and not the comedy loving green fighting machines many of us grew up with. That’s ok. Not a big deal. What is a big deal you ask? Casting Johnny Knoxville to be Leo? Not Mikey or a different character? You picked Mr.Jackass himself to be the virtuous warrior? Hmmmm… not sure about that one guys… but then there is the new T.V. spot “Brothers” that was released this week (link here) with our first look at Master Splinter… With a fu manchu…with Tony Shalhaub doing the voice.

Loved the trailer. Splinter looks pretty cool (from what you can actually see) and the voice sound awesome. Nothing like that I expected him to sound like. So long story short there is still hope for this movie… very little but hey, hope is hope I guess, but let’s move on

So word is that Tatum has been in talks to play Remy. Let’s get it out of the way… I can hear people chanting and booing from here. Now let’s be real. He’s got the accent down (don’t believe me? Go to YouTube and look it up. He’s from the south) and could handle the physical aspects of playing Remy. Here is what Tatum had to say about the role:

“Gambit’s really the only X-Men I’ve ever loved,” the 22 Jump Street star told MTV News following Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards. “I don’t know, I guess just being from down south… I just related to him. He’s suave. He’s the most un-X-Man X-Man that’s ever been in X-Men — other than maybe Wolverine. He’s kind of the antihero; he’s a thief. He’s not even a hero. He’s walking the line of gray.”
Ign.com

I’m glad to see an actor up for a role and have a love for the character. I, like I said, have no problem with the choice. I only have one question… what was wrong with this guy?

Am I the only one that like the role Remy played in the Wolverine movie? Now there are plenty of parts to that movie that I want to forget but this is not one of them. Call me crazy but why isn’t he up to reprise the role if he is to be used in more movies? Guess that’s just how the cards fall on this one…at least your girlfriend won’t fight to see it

We have one final movie… short and sweet… Days of Future past is going to be incredible. You can say what you want about Quicksilvers’ outfit or the design of the sentinels (below) but all in all… it’s going to be a great movie I believe.

The character I want to see the most is Bishop. I have loved that character for a long time and to finally see him in a movie will be nice. Especially cause he looks real and straight out of the comic book (kinda)

Make sure to check out the final trailer to this movie here if you have not done so already! Tell us in the comments which X men you are excited to see!

If you live in Oklahoma or the surrounding states make sure to join us May 9th-11th at the Tulsa Comic Expo! Click here for more information on prices and guest and find them on Facebook here! Hope to see every one there!

Ladies and gentlemen this week we have brought you an amazing cosplayer, Spencer Doe. He has done everything from Batman to Gambit. And now he’ll answer 5 questions to let us get to know him just a little bit more. Enjoy!

1. Where is one place you would love to go to in all the world?
Bora Bora with someone special.

2.What is one t.v. show you can’t stop watching?
I love the walking dead. I have my zombie apocalypse prep kit all set and ready to go. And I’m pretty sick with a bow.

3.What is your favorite horror flick?
Favorite horror flick is Wrong Turn. I love the mountains and it seems like it would be a fun weekend experience.

4. which would you rather do? Have the powers of superman or the money and intelligence of batman?
Powers of Superman. Then I ‘d use them to make my own fortune

5. What are your plans for the rest of the 2014?
I am attending a few conventions this year. I appreciate any show that brings me out. I pride myself by being very real and approachable. People that get egos in this hobby need a serious reality check. Get ready for a ton more costumes

Well there ya have it! Enjoy the small gallery below and make sure to follow him on Facebook by clicking here!

Sadly enough guys that wraps up this week’s playground. Make sure to let us know about any of the topics we covered in the comments down below and stay tuned for more awesome post this week and everyweek. Click the subscribe button at the top and get emails over all the awesome stuff we cover! Till next week guys, This is Steps!